SNW Spring in Pictures

What a week! After a rocky start weather-wise, our pilgrimage to Orlando for the spring SNW tradeshow ended with sun, if not fun. And as we re-enter reality, it's time to reflect on the week's non-technical highlights.

Let's start with the venue, oddly reminiscent of the the other Orlando "resort" hotel we've come to associate with this show. We had deja vu all over again -- Twilight-Zone style -- as we arrived Sunday night. And the view out the window next morning assured us we were indeed ensconced in the Orlando landfill:

Figure 1: The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Hotel: so close to Sea World, so far from God

As with previous Orlando SNW venues, escape was impossible, though we managed to get as far as the first hole of the golf course:

Figure 2:

Eat yer heart out, Tiger Woods!

Back inside, it was down to business. We quickly learned that certain corners of the resort were off limits to reporters:Figure 3: At the perimeter of the Hands-On Lab as close as we were allowed.

We paused momentarily to ponder the higher authority responsible for this media blackout:

Figure 4:

"Abandon hope..."

FCOE vendors, on the other hand, were only too happy to speak to reporters, hosting a mammoth press conference at least as long as one of Fidel Castro's speeches:

Figure 5: QLogic exec Denis Maynard: "and another thing..."

Xiotech, the real star of this show, created a bit of a stir by hiring a magician and a small army of yellow-clad lovelies to lure people to their booth (it worked, incidentally):

Figure 6: The magician made the girls (and himself)
disappear by the time we fought our way through the throng.

The press room, as ever, was a hotbed of intrigue and scandal:

Figure 7:

SNIA holding pen for untouchables.

It was so exciting, some journalists could barely drag themselves away:Figure 8: "I'm lovin' it!"

Thankfully, the nightly exhibit reception offered some respite from the madness of it all:

Figure 9: Do I drink it or eat it?

Our compliments to the Rosen Shingle chef, who was able to normalize a variety of tastes, while giving the impression of variety:

Figure 10: Fish, flesh, or fowl?

See y'all in Dallas for SNW fall!

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